Did / does anyone else find that their hands hurt from using the crutches. I have started to get some blisters on my hands. Anyone got any suggestions / tips. Thanks in advance for you help.
Ditch them and get a knee scooter lol.
Knee Scooter and Walker is all you need. Not a Zimmerframe . All Terrain Walker.
Put padding on with polar fleece and duct tape.
I was thinkingthat its probably because I am not used to using them. Am hoping that it ets better and easier.
Use your hand grip, rather than rest your hands on them.
I'm going to try to get some form of padding today and see if I can sort them out.
My brother used to use the hand free crutch when he had a knee surgery. He feel more comfortable with it and it gave him free hand. So I think it also help you. Hope it's helpful!
Thankyou
Hi Luke,
Try wearing fingerless cycling gloves with the padded palms. Either that or you can get crutches with a contoured handle which distributes your weight more evenly across your palm. Last resort is you can get pads on Amazon to cushion the weight. I know how you feel, I've been on them now for 7 months! My physio originally gave me the same as you, but I already had a contoured pair from an earlier procedure, so I gave them back!
Gym/cycling gloves also help if you get sweaty palms, like me! Especially in this hot weather!
I hope I have been of some help...... Andy 😊
Thanks Andy. I was thinking about cycling gloves. Need to get something to sort it out. Yeah I get sweaty palms too and the weather is not helping.
Try Sports Direct or eBay for the gloves and Amazon for the handle padding. Let me know how you get on.
Yeah course. What injury did you have?
I had a longitudinal fusion of my left ankle. Arthritis!
Oh ouch!
I agree with Luke and Tituscanby. They both gave you great advice that you should carry most the weight in your hands vs. under the arms, and to use bike gloves. Thick gel ones are the best I found. It hurt me so badly when I started using crutches, that I switched to the knee scooter, which as Tituscanby said was the best decision ever for us. I needed the crutches for the WB stage however. The good news is that when you use the crutches when you start PWB, you won't put as much pressure on your hands, so it doesn't hurt so badly, because you are putting some pressure on your foot at that point too. I read somewhere that someone said they had permanent nerve damage in their hands from using the crutches too much, so be careful if you are going to stay with crutches. I will send you a private link showing some gel hand and under arm pads I liked.
Sorry...that should have gone to Luke. I meant to say I agree with Andy and Tituscanby.
Also, if you can afford it, if you get a knee scooter, a basket and cup holder really comes in handy!
I found weight-lifting gloves that seemed to have the gel more where I needed it (than cycling gloves.) I do have a knee walker, but it has its limits - only works well on flat surfaces, and it's hard for me to get it in and out of the car.
I use cycling gel gloves from Amazon